These vegan potato lentil cakes with chive cream sauce are flavorful and satisfying. Packed with green lentils, yukon gold potatoes, and kale, they’re bursting with savory flavors, hearty texture, and oodles of plant-based protein (boasting a mighty 8 grams of protein per patty). I recommend enjoying 2–3 per serving, which makes for a meal with a whopping 16–24 grams of protein (and 8–12 grams of fiber to boot)!

These nutritious, plant-powerful patties are a play on these carrot-lentil cakes.

Yukon gold potatoes take the place of carrots, green lentils take the place of red ones, and the spices/herbs are reconfigured to complement the shifts accordingly.

First of all, there’s already a similar sweet potato rendition of this recipe on the blog. Second of all, white potatoes aren’t nearly as devoid of nutrients as their reputation would have you believe.

That’s right, I said it (in not so many words): White potatoes—or in this case, gold potatoes—are, in fact, nutritious.

Did you know that a single medium yukon gold potato meets one half the recommended daily value of vitamin C? Seriously. They also offer a generous boost of both iron and potassium. But that’s not all. Check out this post for more on the benefits of potatoes.

To make these nutritious patties, you’ll start by steaming yukon gold potatoes and simmering green lentils. As they cook, you can get to work on preparing the other ingredients (e.g., chop kale, measure oats, mince garlic, etc.)

Once the potatoes and lentils are ready, add them to a large mixing bowl and use the back of a fork to roughly mash them. You want to retain quite a bit of texture, so don’t get too mash-happy, but you do want them to be broken down enough to bind the rest of the ingredients together.

Scoop out 1/3-cup mounds of the dough, form into patties, and transfer to a lined baking tray. Once all the patties have been formed, bake them for 20–25 minutes, or until their exteriors are golden and feel gently set with a slight crispness.

While the patties bake, you’ll get to work on the chive cream sauce.

Add raw cashews (pre-soaked if you’re not using a high-speed blender), filtered water, chives, apple cider vinegar, and sea salt to a blender. Blend on high until smooth.

I love how the chives gently paint the cream sauce a pale spring green.

Once everything’s ready, it’s time to serve.

Serve these patties on their own, atop a bed of greens, tucked into warm pita bread or a cozy wrap, or even on a bun (like a burger). Then, generously drizzle each with the chive cream sauce and sprinkle with freshly chopped chives.

These cakes can be refrigerated for up to one week but they also freeze well (for up to one month) and can be thawed as needed for quick, protein-packed weeknight meals.